Anna’s co-star in “The Last Five Years”, Jeremy Jordan, has given an in-depth interview to Broadway World in which he reveals some new details about the project. A few highlights: They are rehearsing now, with filming scheduled for June. It will film mostly in New York. Other actors will be cast. Live singing will be employed for certain sections, while others will be pre-recorded. Anna might have another movie to do between rehearsals and filming (What could it be??). Lots of stuff in here, enjoy! So freakin’ excited for this movie.

PC: THE LAST FIVE YEARS on film could be the launching pad for your rising star to rise even higher. Do you anticipate that?

JJ: Yeah, I hope so! I mean, while it is still a musical, it is really next-level material – it’s hardcore, heavy, intense and fun, too. I am so excited about it. I can’t wait to get started.

PC: So, filming starts in June? Where will you shoot?

JJ: Yeah, we are scheduled to start shooting in June and we will be filming mostly in New York, as far as I know. That’s the plan. I have my first rehearsal on Sunday, actually.

PC: A Happy Easter it will be!

JJ: Yeah, Anna [Kendrick], the director and I will be having rehearsals all through April. So, we are starting off and then she has to go film a movie or something and then when she comes back we will hit the ground running.

PC: Have you two worked together before at any point?

JJ: No, no – I’ve actually never even met her in person yet. We’ve spoken on e-mail and stuff, though. We were trying to get together recently, but I guess she doesn’t live in New York so it is a little difficult. Hopefully, we will get a drink before we start rehearsals and everything and, I don’t know, get to know each other’s favorite colors or something. [Laughs.]

PC: You will need to have quite a rapport for these two roles, don’t you think?

JJ: We will. I can’t wait to get started on rehearsals.

PC: Will there be any other actors in the movie?

JJ: Yeah, it is not going to be just us – the whole movie, at this point, is about ninety-five percent sung-through with a few lines of dialogue here and there. A couple of people get to say other things, though – you’ll see Elyse, the girl that Jamie ends up leaving Cathy for. And you will see Jamie’s agents. You’ll see all the people at the summer stock theatre in Ohio, too.

PC: No way! Even Wayne the Snake?

JJ: I think that’s that plan! You know, it’s the real world, though – it’s taking place in the real world. When we do our songs, even if they are solos, when we do the songs in the scenes I will be singing to her and she will be there in the scene and reacting but I will be the one singing and vice-versa. But, that’s just the way that it is right now – things could change. That is the sort of concept that we are going for at the moment. I think it is going to be incredible.

PC: It sounds revolutionary.

JJ: Yeah, it’s kind of experimental in the way that it is structured, though – you know: solo, solo, solo; for a movie, that’s kind of weird and different.

PC: The score is so remarkable. Have you ever sung Jason Robert Brown’s music before?

JJ: I haven’t. I haven’t ever sung it in a professional setting, at least. So, I am totally, totally pumped. I think the album came out right before I went off to college, so I remember it being a huge, huge thing at the time.

PC: You can say that again – I’m 28, too; I remember.

JJ: Of course! Of course! Yeah, man, it was this huge thing! You know! I just remember everyone being like, “This is the holy grail of musical theatre recordings!” I was actually talking to Anna about it, too – she’s the same age as us. So, yeah, it’s just amazing we’re doing it. THE LAST FIVE YEARS is this quintessential piece and every song is an actor’s song and every song is incredibly difficult and incredibly powerful and incredibly amazing. It was one of those things in college where, like, you gauged how good you were by how well you were able to pull off a song from THE LAST FIVE YEARS.

PC: That’s so funny – and true, too.

JJ: Yeah, I mean, if you could do “Moving Too Fast” and “Nobody Needs To Know” really, really well, you kind of knew you would make it someday, somehow! [Laughs.]

PC: Have you discussed if the profanity will stay in or not? To qualify for a PG-13, a f-bomb or two might have to go.

JJ: [Pause.] Wait, this is supposed to be PG-13? [Laughs.]

PC: I assumed so. Is it?

JJ: Well, I don’t know – the script that I read actually had quite a bit of nudity in it, but I think they ended up taking a lot of that out. I think that it can still be PG-13 how it is, though. I don’t think there are that many “f*cks” in it, are there?

PC: At least three or four.

JJ: Yeah, he says it once or twice and she says it twice, I guess, so I guess you are right – but, that’s not a lot, really. There is no way I can foresee them changing any of it because of that, though.

PC: Are you considering live singing for any of the film?

JJ: Well, I think that some of it needs to be sung live – at the same time, I think that a lot of it can’t, though. Some of the production numbers would be too difficult to do live onset, I think – especially on something with a low budget like this.

PC: Can you give any examples yet, even at this early stage of the game?

JJ: I think some examples would be “If I Didn’t Believe In You” – something like that – or “A Miracle Would Happen”; some of those sort-of spoke-sung songs you kind of almost have to do live because they are so spontaneous and in the moment that to focus on lip-synching and trying to get the exact perfect placement of every word in while also getting to that emotional place that you have to get to to bring off the song, you’re not going to be able to commit one-hundred-percent to the scene and the action and the emotion of it if you are thinking about getting the lyrics properly placed just like when you recorded it two months ago.

PC: So, pre-record can be perilous on a movie musical, too.

JJ: Yeah, I mean, I think that with things that are more sort of rhythmically in place – songs like “Shiksa Goddess” or “Moving Too Fast” have a really rhythmic through-line and so those songs are a little bit easier to follow along to on a recording as opposed to some of the songs that are more spoken and have more freedom or more legato, which is a lot of the score, too. So, I think we will be doing lots of stuff live, but not all of it.

Congrats to Anna, Joe Swanberg and the whole cast and crew! “Drinking Buddies” has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures for distribution, and a theatrical release is planned for later this year. Can’t wait to see this one!

New York, NY (March 19, 2013) – The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnolia Pictures announced today that they have acquired North American distribution rights to writer-director Joe Swanberg’s DRINKING BUDDIES, starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. Produced by Dark Arts’ Alicia Van Couvering and Andrea Roa; Burn Later’s Paul M. Bernon and Sam Slater; and Swanberg, the film premiered this month at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. The film was executive produced by Mike Witherill, Ashley Bernon, Jessica Klapman, David Kaplan, Anish Savjani, and Wilde. Magnolia Pictures is planning a theatrical release for later this year.

DRINKING BUDDIES follows the lives of Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) who work together at a craft brewery. They have one of those friendships that feels like it could be something more. But Kate is with Chris (Ron Livingston), and Luke is with Jill (Anna Kendrick). And Jill wants to know if Luke is ready to talk about marriage. The answer to that question becomes crystal clear when Luke and Kate unexpectedly find themselves alone for a weekend.

“Joe Swanberg has been evolving steadily as a filmmaker, and with DRINKING BUDDIES, he’s delivered his best work yet—a truly funny, smart and insightful film about real adult relationships,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson and the rest of the cast also deliver some of the best work of their careers. We’re raising an imperial pint in celebration.”

“I feel tremendously privileged to work with such a smart, energetic and exciting company,” said Swanberg. “I had an amazing time working with the Magnolia family on V/H/S and I can’t wait to be their drinking buddy again. I just know they will do great things with the film.”

The deal for the film was negotiated by Magnolia SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley and Director of Acquisitions Peter van Steemberg, with CAA on behalf of the filmmakers and producers.

Eeeee. Anna may be starring in another musical already! This one is a straight musical and comes from writer/director Richard LaGravenese and is based on the stage play of the same name. Looks like this is still being put together and in need of financing so hopefully it’ll happen!

Exclusive : Anna Kendrick to star in musical The Last 5 Years

The film mightn’t have set the box office aflame like many predicted it would (based on those early word-of-mouth screenings that the distributor participated in; though “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” used the same playbook, and also tanked upon release) but Uni’s “Pitch Perfect” ostensibly proved Anna Kendrick – the “Twilight” castie who went on to snag an Oscar Nomination for her part as George Clooney’s young, impressionable but ultimately threatening competition in “Up in the Air” – could hold her own in a feature that’s music-heavy. As such, the versatile young thesp has snagged the lead role in another lyrical-friendly feature, “The Last Five Years” – this one, however, is an out-and-out musical.

The Richard LaGravenese (“P.S, I Love You”) adapted and directed “Last Five Years”, one of the many intriguing projects being stumped at next week’s AFM, is based on Robert Jason Brown’s acclaimed Chicago-born play of the same name, that fixes on the ups and downs of a relationship. The show, inspired by the playwright’s own personal life, used a form of storytelling in which the young woman’s story is told in reverse chronological order (beginning the show at the end of the marriage), and the male’s is told in chronological order (starting just after the couple have first met). The characters did not directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle as their timelines intersect.It was all quite genius.

Kendrick will star as Cathy, a struggling young actress, and an yet-to-be cast actor as her novelist husband Jamie. The film chronicles the duo’s relationship – the meet, the break-up, the make-up, the nuptials… all through comedic songs sung by the actors.

Kendrick, next in “The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 2″ (the ticket sales of which will likely make up for the poor performance of “Pitch Perfect” – which, I believe, will likely find more of an audience on DVD and Blu-ray), will sing such tunes as “Still Hurting”, “See I’m Smiling” and “I Can Do Better Than That” in the pic.

“Last Five Years”, housed with The Exchange (Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg starrer “Two Guns”), will be pimped in Santa Monica at the end of the month.

About the Author:

Harry Anisette resides in Heritage Bay in Naples, Florida and has been a Anna Kendrick fan since she first hit her fame, early in life. He has been a dedicated follower, doing his best to keep other fans up to date on the latest Anna Kendrick news.